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Business

Honda HR-V, CR-V and Accord prices rise by up to $2000

Honda HR-V, CR-V and Accord prices rise by up to $2000

The Honda HR-V hybrid has been hit with a $2000 price rise, alongside cost increases for other models – but existing orders are protected at the previous RRPs.

alex misoyannis
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honda australia has increased prices across three of its four models by between $100 and $2000 – but buyers who signed on the dotted line before 1 August 2022 will be “price protected” and the original RRPs will be honored.

Since this month, prices across 10 of the 13 Honda model grades in the HR-V small SUV, CR-V mid-size SUV and Accord mid-size sedan have risen in price, due to “current market conditions.”

Hardest hit is the HR-V e:HEV L hybrid, which received a $2000 price increase from $45,000 to $47,000 drive-away – after arriving in showrooms in April.

Meanwhile, the Accord VTi-LX petrol has risen by $500, to $57,900 drive-away – one month after the hybrid version was hit with a $1500 price increase, to $61,900 drive-away.

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Hybrid versions of the HR-V and Accord are facing wait times of about 10 months, a Honda Australia spokesperson told Drivedue to a “build-up of customer orders”.

Prices of the CR-V mid-size SUV, have risen by between $100 and $300 for August depending on model grade. These compounds earlier increases of similar amounts – though no variant is more than $800 dearer than it was when Honda Australia adopted fixed prices last July.

While prices have risen, Honda Australia says customers who signed a contract prior to 1 August 2022 will be protected from the price rises – even though models such as the HR-V and Accord hybrids may not be delivered until mid-2023.

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“A number of models/grades in the Honda line-up received pricing adjustments as of August 1, which are reflective of the current market conditions, with demand continuing to exceed forecast production levels and the global supply chain continuing to be impacted by parts shortages , rising raw material and energy prices, and other logistics challenges,” Honda Australia said in a media statement.

“Honda’s price protection policy will apply to any contracts signed prior to the change, where the vehicle is yet to be delivered. This means there will be no change for customers who signed a contract prior to August 1 – the drive-away price will remain unchanged at the pre-price-rise level.

“With a build-up of customer orders resulting in extended lead times on a number of vehicles, such as HR-V hybrid and Accord hybrid (both currently at 10 months), [some of] the recent price changes would only come into effect on vehicles to be delivered well into 2023.”

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The Honda Civic hatch continues to be priced from $47,200 drive-away, with no changes to its price applied since it went on sale in December 2021. The HR-V Vi X petrol – as well as the CR-V VTi 7 +Luxe special edition – are not affected by the August price rises.

The price rises for Accord, CR-V and HR-V – as well as Accord Hybrid last month – represent the first major price increases since Honda Australia adopted a fixed-price “agency” business model on 1 July 2021.

2022 Honda HR-V Australian pricing

  • HR-V Vi X – $36,700 (unchanged)
  • HR-V e:HEV L – $47,000 (up $2000)

2022 Honda CR-V Australian pricing

  • CR-V Vi five-seater – $35,900 (up $300)
  • CR-V VTi five-seater – $38,900 (up $100)
  • CR-V VTi 7 seven-seater – $40,900 (up $200)
  • CR-V VTi X five-seater – $41,900 (up $200)
  • CR-V VTi 7 +Luxe seven-seater – $43,700 (unchanged)
  • CR-V Black Edition five-seater – $44,900 (up $200)
  • CR-V VTi L AWD five-seater – $46,200 (up $200)
  • CR-V VTi L7 seven-seater – $49,500 (up $300)
  • CR-V VTi LX AWD five-seater – $53,600 (up $200)

2022 Honda Accord Australian pricing

  • Accord VTi-LX petrol – $57,900 (up $500)
  • Accord VTi-LX hybrid – $61,900 (unchanged)

alex misoyannis

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines as a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.

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Categories
Sports

Warriors coach Stacey Jones says Nelson Asofa-Solomona should have been charged for head-rattling hit

Warriors coach Stacey Jones says Nelson Asofa-Solomona should have been charged for head-rattling hit

Storm hardman Nelson Asofa-Solomona is getting away with too much according to Warriors interim coach Stacey Jones who remains “baffled” he wasn’t charged by the NRL match review committee for an incident which left Wayde Egan with two cracked teeth.

Jones went even further and said given Asofa-Solomona’s record of four charges in 2022, which have all resulted in fines, he could be due to a suspension if only to make him think more about his behaviour.

Egan was “rattled” by the incident in which Asofa-Solomona came down on top of him in a tackle last Friday which forced him from the field but was missed as only “minor contact by match review committee manager Luke Patten.

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Asofa-Solomona, who is yet to be suspended this season despite being charged three times for high tackles and one for making dangerous contact with a defender using his forearm, wasn’t even fined for landing his elbow on Egan’s face.

Patten said it was just a case of “two big men on a smaller man” in a prerecorded video shown at football boss Graham Annesley’s weekly media briefing on Monday and there was “no force applied to Egan’s neck”.

Jones, however, saw things differently and thought a chance was missed to send a signal to players about making contact in tackles.

“It’s not a good message,” Jones said, “It’s baffled me a little bit, like everyone else.

“We’re all about protecting our players. The game is so tough and physical.

“Wayde was really rattled. It could have been worse but I thought (Asofa-Solomona) could have at least been charged.”

‘KNOW WHAT YOU BLOKES ARE SAYING’: O’Brien blow-up exposes Knights divide

Carrigan cops 4-game ban for tackle | 02:14

Jones said Asofa-Solomona, a New Zealand international, might need to be shown, though a suspension, that he needs to change his ways when tackling.

“It’s about protecting Nelson too, in some sort of way,” he said.

“He plays a physical game and the size of his body and the damage he could do to someone, it could turn out very nasty.

“I’m sure Nelson doesn’t want to have that on him.”

Jones confirmed both departing playmaker Chanel Harris-Tavita and Jazz Tevaga are unlikely to play again this season.

Harris-Tavita has suffered an MCL injury in his knee while Tevaga has a shoulder injury.

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Categories
Australia

Half of NSW teachers plan to leave profession in the next five years

Half of NSW teachers plan to leave profession in the next five years

Surging workloads and pay are the major flashpoints in the industrial relations dispute between teachers and the NSW government, with thousands of public and Catholic school teachers walking off the job twice this year.

The latest NSW Department of Education data shows that instances of merged or uncovered classes are worse in regional and rural areas: at Canobolas Rural Technology High School in Orange there have been more than 1500 merged or uncovered classes in the past six months. At Merriwa Central School in the Hunter region there has been almost 4000 instances of minimal and merged classes since the start of 2021.

Lauren McKnight, vice president of the Science Teachers Association of NSW, said a survey of more than 300 NSW science teachers conducted in June found eight in 10 science classes were taught by teachers without expertise in the subject.

“We are going backwards. We are jeopardizing the future of the STEM workforce and it’s a vicious cycle. We can adjust policy to train mid-career professionals, but this is not an immediate solution,” McKnight said.

Their survey found 48 per cent of respondents said there was at least one permanent vacancy for science teachers in their school, and 84 per cent of respondents said that science classes had been taught by a non-science teacher in the week they were surveyed.

“Evidence shows the teacher shortage crisis has been building for years. The pipeline of new teachers entering the profession is inadequate, and attrition rates are high,” the Science Teachers Association’s submission said. “Out of field teaching is common, and particularly problematic in science and STEM subjects, which require significant subject matter expertise.”

McKnight said major reforms were needed, including reducing administration and workloads of teachers, combined with additional funding for schools to access lab tech and administration staff.

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In another submission, a head teacher at a northern beaches public high school said: “I have been teaching for nearly 15 years and have never seen a teacher shortage like the one we are currently experiencing. On a regular basis we have senior classes uncovered and at times have junior classes collapsed as we cannot find enough casual teachers,” they said.

Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said the median tenure for teachers is 11.4 years, which is the second highest in the public service in NSW.

Categories
US

Republicans could soon be put on the spot about endorsing efforts to reform the Electoral Count Act

Republicans could soon be put on the spot about endorsing efforts to reform the Electoral Count Act

CHICAGO — A resolution going before the Republican National Committee this week would endorse a bipartisan effort in Congress to prevent future attempts to subvert the will of the voters.

It also presents a dilemma for a party that former President Donald Trump still largely commands.

Sponsored by Bill Palatucci, a New Jersey committee member who believes Trump “disqualified” himself from being president again, the resolution calls for revamping the Electoral Count Act, the 19th century law whose ambiguities helped trigger the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol that disrupted the transfer of power.

The measure doesn’t mention Trump by name or refer to his efforts to dissuade then-Vice President Mike Pence from certifying Joe Biden’s victory. Nor does it discuss the House Jan. 6 committee hearings’ laying out an interlocking effort by the Trump forces to retain power.

Instead, the resolution urges Congress to reform or replace the Electoral Count Act “to prevent a repeat of the tragedy of January 6, 2021,” and safeguard “important American institutions in the minds of most Americans and our allies around the world.”

Even though the resolution is written in a way that doesn’t explicitly fault Trump, RNC members might still balk at the language pointing to a “campaign of misinformation” that Congress could “overturn the election.”

A major theme of the House Jan. 6 committee’s hearings have been that Trump and his outside advisers misled his supporters into believing that widespread fraud robbed him of victory. Recounts and court cases have failed to turn up evidence of fraud on a scale that would have nullified Biden’s win. But Trump still commands enough loyalty within the RNC — chaired by Ronna McDaniel, whom he chose for the job in 2016 — that it may be praised to validate one of the House panel’s core arguments.

The RNC is holding its summer meeting this week in Chicago. Palatucci said he plans to present the resolution at a panel on Thursday. I have previewed the argument he plans to make at the closed-door session.

“I don’t care what you think of Donald Trump. I don’t care what you think of Liz Cheney,” he said, referring to the vice chairwoman of the House Jan. 6 committee. “The peaceful transfer of power is so important to American democracy that we should eliminate the confusion that happened. You can blame whoever you want, but that to me has nothing to do with urging Congress to fix what was obviously a problem last year.”

The Senate Rules Committee held a hearing Wednesday on the Electoral Count Act and changes to election law. A bipartisan group of senators recently introduced bills to overhaul the 1887 law and make it clear that the vice president can’t reject electors. The measures would also raise the threshold for objecting to a state’s electors from one member of the House and the Senate to one-fifth of each chamber.

The aim is to close loopholes in election law and prevent future attempts to overturn an election. The negotiations, led by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Manchin, DW.Va., were backed by Senate leaders of both parties. It’s unclear when the Senate will vote on the bills.

Collins told the Rules Committee that the “process for counting electoral votes has been abused” and that it “took the violent breach of the Capitol on January 6 to really shine a spotlight on how urgent the need for reform was.”

She said the Senate group that crafted the proposals — which includes Republicans like Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Mitt Romney of Utah and Ben Sasse of Nebraska — is “united in our determination to prevent the flaws in this 1887 law from being used to undermine future presidential election.”

“Nothing is more essential to the survival of a democracy than the orderly transfer of power,” she said. “And there is nothing more essential to the orderly transfer of power than clear rules for affecting it.”

House Democratic leaders have also signaled interest in overhauling the Electoral Count Act, but they say they want to wait to see the Jan. 6 committee’s legislative recommendations — expected later this year — before they endorse any legislation.

Palatucci’s resolution tracks the work of the bipartisan group of senators. He, too, wants to clarify the role of vice presidents so there would be no confusion about their limited powers when Congress tallies the electoral votes every four years.

“We’ve got to do everything to avoid the repeat of Jan. 6, 2021,” Palatucci said. “And a big part of that is removing the confusion that lots of people simply had about the role of Congress and the electors and the vice president.”

Peter Nicholas is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.

Sahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.

Categories
Business

Australia’s economy is set to grow slower than it ever has outside of recession. This is bad news for our standard of living | Greg Jericho

The Reserve Bank of Australia has slammed on the brakes harder than it has for 28 years, and now anticipates over the next two years the economy will grow slower than it ever has in a non-recessionary period. That is bad news for people’s standard of living.

Back in April the average home loan rate was 2.65%, the cash rate was at 0.1% and monthly repayments on a $500,000 home loan were $2,015.

And yet, just four months later, the cash rate is up to 1.85% and those monthly repayments are now $2,504.

Just a lazy 24% increase.

In its April monthly statement, the RBA said that while inflation was rising “growth in labor costs has been below rates that are likely to be consistent with inflation being sustainably at target”.

This was in line with what the RBA had long been saying.

A year ago, the bank stated it would “not increase the cash rate until actual inflation is sustainably within the 2 to 3 per cent target range. The central scenario for the economy is that this condition will not be met before 2024.

“Meeting this condition,” the statement concluded, “will require the labor market to be tight enough to generate wages growth that is materially higher than it is currently.”

And now the cash rate has risen 175 basis points in four months – the fastest increase since 1994:

If the graph does not display click here

So that means wages are now “materially higher” than they were a year ago?

Well… sort of.

In Tuesday’s statement, the governor merely noted that the bank’s “liaison program and business surveys continue to point to a lift in wages growth from the low rates of recent years as firms compete for staff in the tight labor market”.

Cryps.

If all you can say when unemployment is 3.5% is that there has been “a lift in wages growth” from the record low growth of the previous years, then clearly the labor market is broken.

But with inflation growing at 6.1% the RBA has slammed on the monetary policy brakes.

Just how hard has the bank gone?

This is already the fastest rates have initially gone up in 12 months since the late 1980s.

And more rises are on the way:

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But the circumstances have changed.

In 2007 for example, when the RBA increased rates the standard variable rate went from 8.1% to 9.6%.

If the graph does not display click here

Back then the average new mortgage was around $250,000. It meant mortgage repayments increased $278 a month from $1,847 to $2,215 – a 15% increase.

Right now the market is factoring in another 135 basis point rise by next March.

If that happens the standard variable rate would have gone from 4.52% to 7.62%.

The actual average rate held by mortgage holders is lower than the “standard rate”, but a 310 basis points rise from the April average of 2.65% would still see it go to 5.75% by March.

That would cause monthly repayments on a $500,000 loan to go from $2,015 to $2,918 – a 45% increase.

Little wonder the market is getting nervous about its previous rate rise predictions and is now predicting rates will have to be cut next year.

Six weeks ago, the market priced in a cash rate of 4.25% by May next year; now it expects rates to top out at 3.2% before falling to 2.85%:

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A 4.25% cash rate would in my view absolutely cause a recession. Could you imagine what home loan repayments rising 60% in one year would do to the economy?

I also think the current expectation of 3.2% is too high and would be more likely than not to produce a recession. I am much more in line with the Commonwealth Bank’s estimate of a 2.6% peak.

But even still that would have a massive impact on the economy.

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The Reserve Bank already expects the economy to grow by just 1.75% next year and in 2024.

That is truly saying.

Since 1980 there have only been six calendar years with GDP growth below 2%. If the RBA is right this would be the first time since the 1990s recession it has happened two years in a row:

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That might not be a recession, but it would not be anything good.

GDP growth is closely linked with unemployment. As a rule, over the past 40 years to keep the unemployment rate stable GDP needed to grow at least 2.75%:

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Two years of 1.75% growth would likely see unemployment rise – the RBA expects to 4%. But as unemployment rises, wages growth falls, all at a time where the RBA is also estimating inflation growth of “a little above” 4% in 2023 and “around” 3% in 2024.

If the graph does not display click here

Given that at this current state of 50-year low unemployment we are only seeing “a lift in wages growth” above record lows, that does not bode well for people’s standard of living.

Categories
Sports

Evan O’Hanlon shows he still has what it takes at Commonwealth Games, Brandon Starc pushes through pain for high jump silver

Evan O'Hanlon runs with both arms out after the T37/38 100m final at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

It is the middle of the European winter, and sprinter Evan O’Hanlon is shoveling snow off a track in the Czech Republic, where he lives, so he can train in -8C weather.

The Australian four-time Paralympian has no coach by his side, his long-time mentor Iryna Dvoskina coaches him by correspondence.

But he just keeps on running – he does not know how to stop.

“I guess one way to explain it is I’m a problem gambler, and I like coming out here and gambling two years of funding on 11 seconds of running,” he said after winning the men’s T37/38 100m at the Commonwealth Games.

O’Hanlon’s career could have ended two years ago after he broke his foot badly.

Not only did he define his doctor’s expectations to run again, he also embarked on a new mission to represent Australia at this year’s Beijing Winter Olympics in bobsled.

While he just missed out on qualification for the two-man event, he was determined to come back to the Commonwealth Games, and his persistence has been vindicated.

“It’s really nice, mostly because I could do it in front of my four-year-old daughter and my two-year-old son, Ursula and Alfred,” he said.

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Categories
Australia

Charles Sturt University reveals it owes $4.7m to more than 2,500 current and former casual employees

Charles Sturt University reveals it owes $4.7m to more than 2,500 current and former casual employees

An audit has revealed Charles Sturt University (CSU) owes almost $4.7 million in back payments to thousands of current and former casual staff.

A statement from vice-chancellor Renee Leon said CSU commissioned the external review in response to widespread wage compliance issues in the higher education industry.

More than 2,500 employees have been identified as missing out on pay and superannuation since July 2015.

CSU said 75 per cent of the back payments owed were for $1,000 or less.

The National Tertiary Education Union’s Bathurst branch secretary Greg Auhl said it was pleasing that the “enormous” problem had been acknowledged.

“We’re very happy that our members will get what they have actually earned and what they should have been paid for in the first place,” Mr Auhl said.

It comes after the university cut hundreds of jobs and subjects in response to a $50 million deficit in 2020.

Universities reliant on ‘good graces’

CSU’s statement said the underpayments were the result of unintentional errors, due to “mistakes” in interpreting the Enterprise Agreements.

But Mr Auhl argued that explanation was not good enough.

“As academic and professional staff we understand what our work entails, so why can’t our management understand that?”

He said there was an industry-wide over reliance on casuals.

“For far too long, the higher education sector has relied on the good graces of casual and contract staff to work above and beyond what they’re actually paid for,” Mr Auhl said.

“What we’re starting to see here now is that being exposed.”

CSU said the review had also identified instances of overpayments, but would not seek that money back.

It said it had identified “procedural enhancements which are being implemented to ensure ongoing wage compliance”.

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Categories
US

China expected to begin live-fire military exercises near Taiwan coast in wake of Pelosi visit – live | taiwan

Key events

Taiwan fires flares to drive away drones near Kinmen islands

Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Thursday that unidentified aircraft, probably drones, had flown on Wednesday night above the area of ​​its Kinmen islands, which are just off the southeastern coast of China, and that it had fired flares to drive them away.

A senior military official at Taiwan’s outlying kinmen islands added that the situation is “normal” on the islands, including its military alertness level, according to a recent Reuters report.

Relics of Kinmen's history of warfare are scattered across the islands. Kinmen is Taiwan territory but just a few kilometers from the Chinese mainland.
Relics of Kinmen’s history of warfare are scattered across the islands. Kinmen is Taiwan territory but just a few kilometers from the Chinese mainland. Photograph: Helen Davidson/The Observer

G7 calls on China to resolve Taiwan dispute

The world’s most powerful democracies have slammed China for “increasing tensions and destabilizing the region” over its response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

The G7’s top diplomats on Wednesday said they were “concerned by recent and announced threatening actions by the People’s Republic of China, particularly live-fire exercises and economic coercion, which risk unnecessary escalation”.

The statement from the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US and the EU, read:

There is no justification to use a visit as a pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait. It is normal and routine for legislators from our countries to travel internationally.

The PRC’s escalatory response risks increasing tensions and destabilizing the region.

It urged China not to “unilaterally change the status quo by force in the region, and to resolve cross-strait differences by peaceful means”.

They also made clear there was “no change in the respective one-China policies, where applicable, and basic positions on Taiwan of the G7 members”.

[We] encourage all parties to remain calm, exercise restraint, act with transparency, and maintain open lines of communication to prevent misunderstanding.”

South Korean President won’t be meeting Pelosi in Seoul, on holiday

Following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s high-profile visit to Taiwan, the senior US official arrived in Seoul on Wednesday night as part of her Asian tour.

The congresswoman, who is second in line to the US presidency, will on Thursday meet South Korea’s National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and leaders of the ruling conservative People Power Party, as well as the opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

However, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol has no plans to meet Pelosi as he is currently on a summer holiday, an official at the presidential office told SCMP.

The official denied earlier press reports that Yoon, who is taking a break at his home in Seoul, may head out to receive Pelosi.

In the first place, there was no such a plan (for Yoon’s meeting with Pelosi) as the president’s vacation schedule coincides with her visit here.”

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will not be meeting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as he is currently on a summer holiday.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will not be meeting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as he is currently on a summer holiday. Photograph: Presidential Office Handout/EPA

The presidential office “welcomes” Pelosi’s visit to South Korea and it hopes her talks with National Assembly Speaker Kim will be productive, the official said.

Asked about Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan, she said: “Our government’s stance is that we will maintain close communication with the nations concerned on all issues under the banner of the need for peace and stability in the region through dialogue and cooperation.”

Speculation mounted on social media.

“Because of vacation? No way. Yoon is not meeting Pelosi as he is nunchi-ing around China,” one post read. Had this happened to Yoon’s predecessor – liberal former president Moon Jae-in – conservatives and news media would have “raised hell with it” and accused Moon of nunchi-ing around Beijing, the post added.

China claiming Taiwan’s territory a ‘historical inevitability’, former ambassador to UK says

The former Chinese ambassador to the UK issued a scathing statement overnight, warning the US to stop obstructing China’s “great cause of reunification” and describing the process as a “historical inevitability”.

Liu Xiao Ming said:

The United States should not fantasize about obstructing China’s great cause of reunification. Taiwan is part of China.

Realizing complete national reunification is the general trend and a historical inevitability. We will never leave any space for ‘Taiwan independence’ split and interference from external forces.

No matter what way the US supports and condoms ‘Taiwan independence’, it will ultimately be a sham, and it will only leave more ugly records of the US grossly interfering in other countries’ internal affairs in history.

The Taiwan issue was born out of the country’s weakness and chaos, and it will surely end with the rejuvenation of the nation in the future.”

美国 不 幻想 阻挠 中国 的 统一 大业。 是 中国 的 一 部分 实现 国家 完全 统一 是 趋 ， ， 历史 必然。 我们 我们 绝 不 会 为 “台独 台独 台独 分裂 和 势力 干涉 留下 任何 空间。 美方 不论 以 以 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么纵容“台独”，最终都将是竹篮打水一场空，只会在历史上留下更多美国粗暴干涉别国内政的记㽕陋

— 刘晓明Liu Xiaoming (@AmbLiuXiaoMing) August 3, 2022

Summary and welcome

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of tensions between China and Taiwan.

I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments.

It is approaching 7am in Beijing. Here is everything you might have missed:

  • China is to begin a series of unprecedented live-fire drills that would effectively blockade the island of Taiwan, just hours after the departure of US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, whose controversial visit this week has sparked fears of a crisis in the Taiwan strait.
  • Taiwan has characterized the drills as a violation of international law. The drills will last until Sunday afternoon – and will include missile tests and other “military operations” as close as nine miles to Taiwan’s coastline.
  • Ahead of the drill, Taiwan said 27 Chinese warplanes had entered its air defense zone.
  • Pelosi arrived in Taipei on Tuesday night under intense global scrutinyand was met by the foreign minister Joseph Wu and the US representative in Taiwan, Sandra Oudkirk.
  • Pelosi addressed Taiwan’s parliament on Wednesday before having public and private meetings with the president, Tsai Ing-wen. “Our delegation came to Taiwan to make unequivocally clear we will not abandon Taiwan, and we are proud of our enduring friendship,” she said, adding that US solidarity with Taiwan was “crucial” in facing an increasingly authoritarian China.
  • In a later statement, she said China could not prevent world leaders from traveling to Taiwan “to pay respect to its flourishing democracy”.
  • Pelosi’s trip generated condemnation from Beijing and sparked fears of a new Taiwan strait crisis.
  • China vowed “consequences” and military exercises announced in waters around the island on Thursday to show their dissatisfaction.
  • Taiwan’s defense ministry accused Beijing of planning to violate the international convention on the law of the sea, by breaching Taiwan’s sovereign territory.
  • Taiwanese authorities have said the proximity to some major ports combined with orders for all aircraft and sea vessels to steer clear of the area amount to a blockade.
  • While China’s military often holds live-fire exercises in the strait and surrounding seas, those planned for this week encircle Taiwan’s main island and target areas within its territorial sea.

China to conduct a series of live-fire military drills in waters surrounding Taiwan
China to conduct a series of live-fire military drills in waters surrounding Taiwan

Categories
Business

Interest rates: Peter White urges borrowers to beware of the hidden dangers associated with refinancing following RBA rate rise

Interest rates: Peter White urges borrowers to beware of the hidden dangers associated with refinancing following RBA rate rise

A leading loans expert is urging mortgage holders to be wary of the hidden dangers associated with refinancing as the big four banks look to entice more customers with “cheap deals” following this month’s rate rise.

Peter White AM, the managing director of the Financial Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA), is asking Australians who are considering whether they should switch up their home loan to proceed with caution, warning that “cheaper isn’t always better”.

The director’s message comes after the Reserve Bank of Australia increased the cash rate by 50 basis points for the fourth time in as many months on Tuesday.

With the base rate now standing at 1.85 per cent, Mr White is asking borrowers to be on alert as major banks look to lure vulnerable customers who are struggling with their repayments to sign up to its services.

“Some banks at the moment are offering cheap variable rates to new borrowers only. This is a trap,” Mr White told news.com.au.

“For the lender it’s about using a marketing budget to generate more customers, knowing that most customers will stay as it costs to change again.”

It’s all part of a “vicious cycle” lenders use to draw customers into borrowing from them, Mr White explained, where new customers are blindsided as the rate on offer doesn’t always mean the customer will be better off in the long term.

“There is a hidden danger at times like this that is rarely spoken about,” Mr White said.

“Banks will be looking to attract those considering refinancing as new customers, and will offer cheaper variable interest rates that are significantly below their fixed rates, which are rapidly climbing. This is a case of ‘buyer beware’.”

Cashbacks and exclusive rates at discount prices for new customers are some of the lures banks are using to attract new borrowers.

Both come at the cost of disadvantaging the lender’s current customer base as their higher interest rates make up for the lower rate offered to new customers.

“Borrowers should be aware that next time around they will be the existing customer facing higher rates and will be disadvantaged during rate increases,” Mr White said.

“It’s an old game to lure new customers with a perceived advantage only to be taken advantage of with the next move.”

Additionally, some banks use a tactic where they attempt to give you a better rate after you’ve agreed to another offer.

“If they were serious about looking after you they would have offered this when you first approached them, so ignore this offer and don’t be distracted as this will cause you even more headaches, and makes the process even more complex,” he said .

While Mr White advises borrowers to refinance with caution, saving on your home loan isn’t entirely off the cards.

Rather than focusing on the big four banks, Mr White recommends looking at what second tier banks such as Suncorp, and non-banks such as Bluestone, have on offer.

“Going with the major banks is often the most expensive way forward and may not be in your best interests due to constraints and other factors specific to you,” Mr White said.

“Remember the big banks can only sell you their products, and their aim is to look after themselves and their shareholders, not to act in your best interests.”

It’s also advised that borrowers go through a mortgage broker, rather than directly through a bank. Brokers are free to use as they receive commission from lenders once they sign a customer up to a service.

They also have access to a range of offers that aren’t always available to borrowers who go through the back directly and can find a rate and repayment schedule that suits a borrower’s needs.

“A finance broker is obliged to act in your best interests and sometimes this means explaining that the best option may be not to refinance,” Mr White said. “(They’re also) charged by law to act in your best interests, whereas banks are not.”

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Categories
Technology

Google Street View captures bikini woman’s wild pose

Google Street View captures bikini woman's wild pose

Google Maps is no stranger to odd discoveries on Street View but rarely do we get two in one shot.

Eagle-eyed explorers couldn’t believe what they saw when virtually nosing around the island of Majorca in Spain.

If you look closely you will spot a woman in a bikini performing a jaw-dropping move off the Cala Na Clara beach, which is along the east coast of the holiday island, The Sun reports.

The skilled beachgoer appears to be balancing on her head while on a surfboard in the water.

But if you thought that was wild, look again, as she’s not the only one on a surfboard.

Google Maps users also noticed that a dog is out on one as well.

“Wait a minute is that a dog on a surfboard in the distance?” one user said on Reddit.

The canine looks pretty chilled in the distance as his owners splash in the water.

As for the woman, it turns out she’s actually practicing paddleboard yoga.

“I was like, is that woman doing a headstand on a paddleboard in the crystalline waters off the coast of Spain?” one observer said.

“I’ve never been more jealous of a stranger, lol!”

British TV star, best known for her work on game show countdown, Carol Vorderman is among the big names to have tried the sport.

Last year, the 61-year-old showed off her youthful figure and flexibility by doing yoga on a paddleboard.

“Someone dared me to ‘yoga’… this is the best I could do… ‘downward dog’… rubbish,” she captioned an Insta photo showing off her moves.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission

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